Creating a Portfolio for Admission to Architecture Undergraduate Programs
Many high school students are interested in pursuing architecture in college. What they need to consider as early as 10th grade is “What do the colleges want to see in my portfolio?”
There are specific instructions that differ from school to school, but overall, colleges are looking for evidence of your skills, creativity, and design process. Schools are not looking at your portfolio for highly skilled architectural work but rather whether you show evidence that you have the potential skills to benefit from an architectural education. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you begin to think about how to construct your portfolio:
● Does your creative work showcase your ability to solve problems visually?
● Does your portfolio provide insight into your point of view?
● Are you demonstrating your ability to draw from observation? It is important that these examples be drawn from direct observation and not a photo reference.
● Are you including a range of media and narratives?
● Are you showing your process along with finished pieces?
Often, portfolio requirements include sketches and drawings, as well as photographs, life drawings, paintings, models, or collages. Drawing is an essential skill in architecture, and you should begin practicing your drawing skills as soon as possible.
Focus on opportunities to gain confidence in your visual art practice. Rather than looking for summer architecture programs, explore opportunities to draw from live models, explore new mediums such as painting or ceramics, and continue to develop how you will display your creative intent in your portfolio.
A few examples of summer visual art programs that we recommend (in no particular order) for working on your ability to draw and create conceptual work are:
● The School of the Art Institute of Chicago,
● The Maryland Institute College of Art
● The Rhode Island School of Design
Over the years, we have seen many talented students matriculate to competitive architecture programs. In all cases, these students sought opportunities to show schools why they were prepared to take on the rigors of an undergraduate architecture program. While your portfolio is just one piece of the application puzzle, it remains